..This study, the first to detect B. quintana in a nonhuman mammal, changes our understanding of the epidemiology of this infection and proposes that cats may be an emerging source of human infection...

..Our data underline the high prevalence of infective endocarditis caused by Bartonella quintana in northern Africa and the role of serologic and molecular tools for the diagnosis of blood culture-negative endocarditis...

Histologic features and immunodetection of African tick-bite fever eschar

..Neutrophils in ATBF are a notable component of the host reaction, perhaps because ATBF is a milder disease than the other rickettsioses. Immunohistochemical detection of rickettsial antigens may be useful in diagnosing ATBF...

..Because our assay is highly standardized and easily adaptable, it could improve epidemic typhus surveillance in public health programs, especially for countries with underdiagnosed or unrecognized human cases...

..Leptospira fainei was identified by sequencing the 16S rDNA gene, which had been amplified by polymerase chain reaction. This case confirms the role of L. fainei as a human pathogen and extends its distribution to southern Europe...

..henselae is the first human-infecting Bartonella identified from Ixodes ricinus, a common European tick and the vector of various tickborne pathogens. The role of ticks in the transmission of bartonellosis should be further investigated...

..These data confirm that wind plays a role in C. burnetii transmission, a factor that can be monitored but not prevented. Further studies are needed to identify and confirm preventable individual behavioral risk factors for Q fever...

..Antibodies against R. felis were found in 5 adsorbed serum samples from 44 patients with clinically suspected rickettsiosis by Western blot serology. Fleas from 1 patient's dog were positive for R. felis by polymerase chain reaction...

..Altogether, our data demonstrated that APMV enters macrophages through phagocytosis, a new pathway for virus entry in cells. This reinforces the paradigm that intra-amoebal pathogens have the potential to infect macrophages...

Questions on Mediterranean spotted fever a century after its discovery

..Moreover, MSF has become more severe than RMSF; the mortality rate was as high as 32% in Portugal in 1997. Whether Rhipicephalus sanguineus is the only vector and reservoir for R. conorii conorii is a question not yet answered...

Adipose tissue serves as a reservoir for recrudescent Rickettsia prowazekii infection in a mouse model

Yassina BechahUnit for Research on Emergent and Tropical Infectious Diseases URMITE, CNRS IRD UMR 6236, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Mediterranean, Marseille, FrancePLoS ONE 5:e8547. 2010

..In vitro, R. prowazekii rickettsiae infected and replicated in the murine adipocyte cell line 3T3-L1. Collectively these data suggest a role for adipose tissue as a potential reservoir for dormant infections with R. prowazekii...

..berkhoffii, Bartonella clarridgeiae, and Bartonells elizabethae were detected infecting Algerian dogs. To our knowledge, this study is the first report of detection by PCR amplification of Bartonella in dogs in North Africa...

..In order to be able to define the specific mutations in the Protease that confer loss of susceptibility to Protease Inhibitors, we set up an experimental model system based in the expression of the viral protein in yeast...

..Bacteria of the genus Bartonella are responsible for a large variety of human and animal diseases. Serological typing of Bartonella is a method that can be used for differentiation and identification of Bartonella subspecies...

SVARAP and aSVARAP: simple tools for quantitative analysis of nucleotide and amino acid variability and primer selection for clinical microbiology

..Our aim was therefore to test easy and cost-free tools (SVARAP and aSVARAP) that require short hands-on work, little expertise, and which allow visual interpretation and statistical analysis of results...

..whipplei Twist strain. For each isolate, the genes were defined as either present or absent/divergent using the GACK analysis software. Genomic changes were then further characterized by PCR and sequencing...

..Mycoplasma-free microsporidia were isolated from the brains and spleens of inoculated mice 24 h postinoculation by using the centrifugation shell vial system. Identification was confirmed by direct sequencing of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA...

..Q fever endocarditis, caused by Coxiella burnetii, is fatal in 25% to 60% of patients. Currently, treatment with a long-term tetracycline and quinolone regimen for at least 4 years is recommended, although relapses are frequent...

..A small outbreak was also reported in Russia in 1997. Louse infestation appears to become more prevalent worldwide, associated with a decline in social and hygienic conditions provoked by civil unrest and economic instability...

..9%) possible cases of IE as definite cases. Systematic serological testing improved the performance of the modified Duke criteria and was instrumental in establishing the etiologic diagnosis in 8% (34/427) cases of IE...

..Such genotypic and phenotypic characteristics warrant its classification as a representative of a novel species, for which the name Rickettsia tamurae sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain AT-1(T) (=CSUR R1(T))...

..The bacterial contamination of nebulizers represents a major problem for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients that can lead to reduced nebulizer performance and increase the risk of patient reinfection by the contaminating bacteria...

..8 %). On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic data, this isolate represents a novel species for which the name Staphylococcus massiliensis sp. nov. is proposed (type strain 5402776(T)=CCUG 55927(T)=CSUR P23(T))...

..In Kazakhstan, we detected Rickettsia sp. strain RpA4 and a rickettsia closely related to Rickettsia aeschlimannii. These agents should be considered in a differential diagnosis of tick-borne infections in these areas...

..Finally, we provide a free-access MST-Rick online software program (http://ifr48.timone.univ-mrs.fr/MST_BHenselae/mst) that investigators may use to compare their own MST sequences to our database...

Finegoldia magna, an early post-operative cause of infectious endocarditis: report of two cases and review of the literature

..In April 2009, the first cases of pandemic (H1N1)-2009 influenza [H1N1sw] virus were detected in France. Virological surveillance was undertaken in reference laboratories of the seven French Defence Zones...

..felis and those observed for the isolate in this study indicated some differences, although concurrent analysis of the two was not possible as no extant isolates of the first isolate of R. felis exist...

Identification of two putative rickettsial adhesins by proteomic analysis

..Both proteins are highly conserved within the Rickettsia genus and might play a critical role in their pathogenicity. These data may have important implications for the development of future vaccines against rickettsial infections...

A murine model of infection with Rickettsia prowazekii: implications for pathogenesis of epidemic typhus